Warren County Sheriff Kevin Harrison expressed frustration with statements made by Circuit Clerk Brenda Eggering in a recent newspaper article dealing with uncollected prisoner boarding reimbursements.Harrison made the comments during an open session of the Warren County Commission last Thursday. The week before, county officials met with the commission in closed session regarding some of the same issues.Some county officials questioned why the first meeting was held in a closed session.Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage explained that the meeting was closed because discussion was held concerning a county employee.The article Harrison referenced last Thursday was published in the June 20 edition of The Record.In the article, Eggering said that office and Harrison’s office had some issues that needed to be resolved to prevent unnecessary work in processing the reimbursement requests but added that progress was being made.She said the issues were due in part to a misunderstanding between departments. She also said that she was a “perfectionist” and that the paperwork (from Harrison’s office) had to be properly prepared.“I’m frustrated because it appears, to me, that the focus ... has shifted responsibility for not billing to my office,” Harrison told commissioners.In its 2013 fiscal year budget, county officials budgeted $480,000 for jail reimbursement, which anticipated some of the uncollected prisoner boarding funds which were not collected in 2012.Warren County received $356,796.45 in jail reimbursements in 2011 and $216,652.40 in 2012, resulting in a difference of $140,144.05.Through the first four months of this year, the county has received $88,668, according to Harrison.At that rate, if collections remain consistent, Harrison said the county still will be more than $200,000 short of its estimated revenues for that line item in the budget.Harrison said his intent in bringing up the matter originally in the previous commission meeting — which was attended by county commissioners, Harrison, Eggering and Treasurer Gene Cornell — was to initiate communication with the county commission regarding a “potential” revenue deficit.“From April 2012 through November, or even into early 2013, the bills hadn’t been sent, period,” Harrison stated.The Warren County Circuit Clerk’s office, not the sheriff’s department, is responsible for collecting jail reimbursement fees from the state.The sheriff’s department prepares reports detailing the number of days prisoners spend in the county jail while awaiting trial or transfer to other facilities, and those reports are submitted to the Warren County Circuit Clerk’s office, which, in turn, submits reimbursement requests to the state.Harrison explained that if a person is facing charges in multiple cases, separate reports must be prepared accounting for the total number of days the individual spent in jail related to each case.Sometimes, he said, time served by some individuals overlaps.However, he noted that the state only reimburses the county for the actual number of days a person is held.But he stressed that no discussion was held concerning the quality of work on the part of the jail clerk who prepares the reports which are sent to the circuit clerk’s office.“At no time has she (Eggering) ever communicated it’s an issue of paperwork,” Harrison said.“I and my staff make mistakes, but the circuit clerk is not taking responsibility for the actions of her office,” Harrison stated. “She’s not holding her staff accountable.”Harrison stressed that the purpose of the recent meeting was “not to be negative and it was not to throw anyone under the bus. The objective is to get the bills sent and the reimbursements collected.“I don’t think the article reflects what was discussed in the (closed) meeting,” he added. “The question needs to be asked why the circuit clerk’s office stopped sending reimbursement requests to the state.“I don’t bill and I don’t collect,” Harrison said. “The circuit clerk’s office didn’t submit the bills to the state.”In last week’s article, it was noted that officials with the sheriff’s department and the circuit court are working to identify those overlapping cases and to develop a system which will result in reimbursement requests being prepared more expediently to enable the county to receive reimbursements more quickly.Harrison did state during the county commission meeting last week that he “has total confidence” the matter will be resolved.The state reimburses the county $19.38 per day when a person is held in the Warren County jail awaiting trial or transfer to state or federal facilities.The county spends $55 per prisoner, per day, on inmate housing.Eggering did not return telephone calls for this story by the time The Record went to press Wednesday.Before last week’s commission meeting, Harrison handed out a letter to the editor from Kimberly Symes, an employee in his department who is responsible for completing the reimbursement paperwork. Symes said in the letter that she is frustrated and insulted that she is being made a scapegoat for Eggering’s “inability” or “unwillingness” to perform her duties.